Iranian regime mounts pressure against prisoners in Evin

Evin Prison in Tehran

Iran, September 1, 2019–According to reports, Gholamreza Ziayi, the new chief of the Iranian regime's notorious Evin prison in Tehran, has been mounting repression against prisoners. Ziyai has adopted new rules which put more pressure on prisoners. One of these rules is the removal of health insurance plans for prisoners. This means that prisoners and their families are responsible to cover all the health and treatment costs of prisoners. Those who don't have the money are deprived of medical treatment. Even if a prisoner is dying, they won't be transferred to the medical center before paying for their treatment out of their own pockets.

The new restrictions also include a limitation on family visits. Since three years ago, Iranian political prisoners were granted one visit every 28 days even if they didn't make any requests in advance. But the new head of Evin prison has revoked this rule and set a new requirement that political prisoners must file a written request if they want to have visitors.

Ziayi has also added new restrictions to the ward of female prisoners, including limits on visits, phone calls, access to clothing and vital needs, and confiscating electrical appliances purchased by the prisoners.

It is worth noting that Ziayi was previously the head of Gohardasht prison, where he committed numerous crimes. In the 2000s, Ziayi was in charge of ward 240 of Evin prison, which belongs to the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS). The Iranian regime's Prisons Organization later tasked him with hunting down runaway prisoners. In 2009, he was the head of the notorious Kahrizak prison, where the youth arrested in popular protests were subjected to inhumane tortures. After the disasters of Kahrizak, he was promoted to president of the Prisons Organization.

In 2017, Ziayi was appointed as the head of Gohardasht (Raja'i Shahr) prison.

In 2018, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned Ziayi along with several other Iranian regime officials for their egregious human rights violations.

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